The All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Tony Okocha and the Rivers State Government, have disagreed on the October 5,2024 scheduled date for the local government polls.

While Okocha declared that the election will not be held in the state on October 5, the state government maintained that the election will be held, stressing that preparations are in top gear.

Okocha also announced that the tenure of the Caretaker Committee of the APC in the state, which was recently renewed by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, will expire on December 5, 2024.

Okocha spoke on Wednesday at an expanded stakeholders’ meeting of the party in Port Harcourt reiterating that both the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not participate in the said election if it eventually holds.

But in a swift reaction, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joe Johnson, described Okocha as a ‘joker’.

He said: “Okocha is a joker, the election will hold. There’s nothing that will stop the election; we are preparing for the election, and those who work hard will win.

“Political parties are preparing for the election, so the electorates should prepare. there will be a paradigm shift this time and nothing will stop it except God.”

The APC meeting was attended by leading members of the party in the state, including its former Chairman, Ojukaye Amachree, and Senator Wilson Ake, amongst others.

While insisting that the party in the state would no longer allow itself to be dragged into the opposition, the APC caretaker committee chairman accused the Emeka Beke-led faction of the party of working in synergy with the state government to oust the committee.

He said: “Our caretaker committee was to stay for six months and after the expiration of the six months, the National Working Committee extended our stay for another six months. So, we will be in the saddle of Rivers APC leadership until December 5, 2024.

“We are not part of the decision for an election in October. We are in court and we cannot discuss what is before the court. That October 5 election will not work. They cannot go on to conduct such election without a party like APC. I heard that PDP is also not participating in the election.

“We cannot participate in the election but there was a deliberate plan to oust us. Until the right processes are put in place, we will not participate in the election.”

Okocha disclosed that the party had already filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal on the recent judgement of a Rivers State High Court that sacked the caretaker committee and reinstated the Beke-led elected executives of the APC.

He said: “We have filed a Notice of Appeal over the Rivers State High Court judgement and our lawyer said he has filed a stay of execution over the judgement.

“We will not allow anybody to drag into any opposition again. We are aware that they are working in cahoots with Rivers State government to oust us.”